President Obama has said "I don't bluff," when it comes to opposing any effort by Iran to develop nuclear weapons (which that nation says it is not trying to do). And, he told The Atlantic's Jeffrey Goldberg in March, "all options are on the table."
So it would seem the president hasn't ruled out the possibility of military action if talks between Iran and the so-called P5+1 nations do not end with a diplomatic solution.
Still, U.S. Ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro is getting lots of attention today for saying this week, Reuters reports, that:
"It would be preferable to resolve this diplomatically and through the use of pressure than to use military force. But that doesn't mean that option is not fully available - not just available, but it's ready. The necessary planning [for military action] has been done to ensure that it's ready."
The talks with Iran are due to resume next Wednesday in Baghdad. The P5+1 nations are the five permanent members of the U.S. Security Council (China, France, Russia, the U.S., and the U.K.) and Germany (the +1).
Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.
